Ukraine intensifies attacks in Kherson
This week Peter Beaumont reported on Ukraine’s push to isolate the city of Kherson, currently held by the Russians. On Wednesday, a key bridge in the southern city was hit by a barrage of rockets from Ukrainian forces. Video footage and witnesses reported as many as 18 explosions on the Antonivskiy Bridge over the Dnieper River, one of the main Russian supply routes to Kherson, with Russian anti-missile air defenses apparently failing to intercept the hits. A second railway bridge upstream was also hit. Ukraine’s armed forces posted a one-minute video on Telegram showing rockets being fired at the bridge shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday. “The moment of the flight over the Antonivskiy bridge,” said the force. Antonivskyi bridge in Kherson comes under fire from Ukraine. Photo: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters A spokeswoman for the southern command of the Ukrainian military, Natalia Khomenyuk, told Ukrainian television that “surgical strikes” had been carried out on the bridge. We are not destroying the infrastructure, we are destroying the enemy’s plans,” he added. Kherson, captured in early March, has long been the focus of the Ukrainians, with the defenders making limited gains in the countryside between Mykolaiv and the target city since April. But, apparently aided by longer-range weapons with an effective firing range of up to 50 miles (80 kilometers), the Ukrainians are growing more confident. As the offensive in the south accelerated, Russia responded by sending a barrage of missiles into Ukraine from Belarus.
Life under fire in Donbass as war enters sixth month
Russia’s war against Ukraine has entered its sixth month, and in the eastern Donbas region – where some of the fiercest fighting is taking place – rockets are still falling. Peter Beaumont traveled to Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, where the sound of shelling and rockets could be heard in the distance. “I sleep in my clothes so I can get out quickly if there is an airstrike,” said 85-year-old Tamara, whose home is about 100 meters from a school that was hit by two rockets on Sunday morning. “The explosion shook my apartment… It was like an earthquake. I’m so scared,” she said, close to sobbing. “I hate it! I hate it! I just want this war to end.” The towns, all in Donetsk province, are seen as key targets in Russian forces’ bid to seize the entire Donbass region, which includes Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk. A woman walks past a school that was partially destroyed as a result of a rocket attack in Kostyantynivka. Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images NASA satellite imagery of fires burning along the front line suggests that Russian artillery bombardment has recently decreased. Some analysts suggest this may be the result of Ukrainian raids – using new Western artillery systems – on ammunition dumps and command posts, which have degraded Russian capabilities. However, residents are still unwilling to believe that it is more than a temporary respite, many seeing little prospect of an end to the war.
EU agrees gas sharing plan amid fears over Russian supply
The EU has been forced to water down its gas sharing plan this winter in a bid to avoid an energy crisis caused by further Russian supply cuts, writes Jennifer Rankin in Brussels. Energy ministers from the 27 member states, except Hungary, backed a voluntary 15% reduction in natural gas use over the winter, a target that could become mandatory if the Kremlin orders a complete gas cut to Europe . After days of intense negotiations, ministers agreed exemptions for island nations and possible exclusions for countries poorly connected to the European gas grid, which would soften the overall effect in the event of a full-blown gas crisis. Berlin’s cathedral has turned off most of its lights to save energy. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images The deal came less than 24 hours after Russia’s state-controlled energy company, Gazprom, announced a sharp cut in gas supplies through the critical Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Wednesday. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said there was “no justifiable technical reason” for the cut. EU governments can choose how to reduce gas use by 15%, as long as they protect supplies to households. Industrial users will feel the pinch first. factories could be given targets to reduce heating and cooling. In Germany, cities are turning off floodlights at public monuments, turning off fountains and imposing cold showers in municipal swimming pools and sports halls as the country struggles to reduce energy consumption. EU gas storage levels are currently at 66%, but by the end of next spring they could be seriously depleted with fewer options to replace stocks. EU officials suggest the gap could be filled with pipeline gas from Norway and Azerbaijan, more liquefied natural gas delivered by tanker from as far away as the US, and efforts to reduce demand.
A day in the life of a Ukrainian city
Once a city of nearly 500,000, Mykolayiv’s population has nearly halved in the past five months. More residents, like Lyubov Verba and her 15-year-old daughter Ksenia, are leaving every day. Unable to sleep under the Russian bombardment that had targeted the city since the beginning of the war in February, Lyubov developed a dread. Her husband, Serhiy, will remain in the city. As are their 12-year-old son Vyacheslav and their daughter Diana, 20, who is married to a Ukrainian soldier. They say they don’t want to leave. “I’m very nervous about the situation,” Serhiy told Peter Beaumont after his wife’s bus left for Odessa, a two-hour drive along the coast. “But for her, it was much worse.” A firefighter works in a burning field near Mykolaiv. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters That morning, just after 3 a.m., a rocket had hit a few blocks away, leaving a huge crater in the middle of a car wash and blowing out windows of nearby houses. “Out of 148 days of war,” says Mayor Alexander Senkevich, “there have been 21 days when we haven’t been bombed.” Away from the city itself, the main water pipeline supplying Mykolaiv has been damaged by Russian fire. Drinking water comes from tankers for which residents have to queue. Next to the water queue is another for food distribution, which starts at 14:00. Vaneeva Valentyna, 68, and Vasyukova Rymma, 84, arrived at 9 a.m., along with two dozen others who wanted to be first in line. “Come two o’clock, there will be 200 people here,” says Valentyna.
Lavrov’s tour of Africa, another front in the battle between the West and Moscow
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, traveled to Uganda for the final leg of his Africa tour, aimed at rallying support on the continent for Russia as the war in Ukraine enters its sixth month. Many African leaders have refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and have accused the US and NATO of starting or prolonging the conflict. Sergei Lavrov, right, meets with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonen Hassen in Addis Ababa. Photo: AP But hundreds of millions on the continent face rising food prices and, in some cases, severe shortages, as the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s blockade of Ukrainian ports traps tens of millions of tons of grain, dramatically exacerbating existing supply chain problems. As Jason Burke writes in this analysis, Lavrov is seeking to convince African leaders and, to a much lesser extent, ordinary people that Moscow cannot be blamed for either the conflict or the food crisis.
Ukraine are gearing up for a remarkable return to the league
Five months ago, soccer players in Ukraine could not afford to give their sport a second thought. The atrocities inflicted by the invading Russian forces left no one unmoved and the act of staying alive while ensuring the same for their loved ones was all that mattered. But on August 23, barring a sharp deterioration in the current security situation, football season will return to Kyiv, Lviv, Uzhhorod and perhaps Ternopil or Rivne, writes Nick Ames. The games will be played behind closed doors amid a significant military presence. A football stadium destroyed by shelling in Bahamut. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Last Monday, representatives from the Ukrainian Federation, government ministries and the state emergency service gathered in Kyiv to discuss protocols that, once signed, will allow the league to begin. “Holding football matches during the war is not only about sport,” said Andriy Pavelko, the president of the football federation. “It is to show our people’s fearlessness, indomitable spirit and desire for inevitable victory. This is a unique initiative in world history: football against war in conditions of war, football for the sake of peace.”
